Touch screen panel

ABSTRACT

A touch screen panel that includes a substrate comprising an active area and a non-active area positioned outside the active area, first and second sensing electrodes formed over the active area, wherein the first sensing electrodes connected along a first direction, and wherein the second sensing electrodes connected along a second direction that intersects the first direction, and outside wiring lines formed in the non-active area to connect the first and second sensing electrodes to an external driving circuit in units of lines and having at least one of slits that cross insides of the outside wiring lines so that widths of conductive paths are reduced in partial sections.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, andclaims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §120 from, and is aContinuation of an application for TOUCH SCREEN PANEL, earlier filed inthe United States Patent and Trademark Office on 9 Sep. 2013 and theirduly assigned Ser. No. 14/021,154, which claims priority under 35 §119from an application earlier filed in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice on 20 Mar. 2013 and there duly assigned Serial No.10-2013-0029832.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

An aspect of the present invention generally relates to a touch screenpanel.

2. Description of the Related Art

A touch screen panel is an input device capable of selecting theindication content displayed on the screen of an image display device bya human hand or an object to input the command of a user.

The touch screen panel is provided on the front face of the imagedisplay device to convert a contact position of the human hand or theobject into an electrical signal. Therefore, the indication contentselected in the contact position is received as an input signal.

The above information disclosed in this Related Art section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background of the invention andtherefore it may contain information that does not form the prior artthat is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The other aspects of the present invention, there is provided a touchscreen panel, comprising a substrate comprising an active area and anon-active area positioned outside the active area, first and secondsensing electrodes formed over the active area, wherein the firstelectrodes connected along a first direction, and the second sensingelectrodes connected along a second direction that intersects the firstdirection, and outside wiring lines formed in the non-active area toconnect the first and second sensing electrodes to an external drivingcircuit in units of lines and having at least one of slits that crossinsides of the outside wiring lines so that widths of conductive pathsare reduced in partial sections.

The slit may include a first slit extended in a direction thatintersects a longitudinal direction of the outside wiring lines and asecond slit extended to parallel in the longitudinal direction of theoutside wiring lines.

The slit may be L or T shaped.

The slit may include a plurality of slits formed over one outside wiringline.

The outside wiring lines may have different lengths and the number ofslits may be increased as the lengths of the wiring lines are smaller.

The outside wiring lines may have different lengths and a length of thesecond slit may be increased as the lengths of the wiring lines aresmaller.

The outside wiring lines may include strip patterns divided by the slit.

The strip patterns may be extended to parallel in a longitudinaldirection of the outside wiring lines.

The outside wiring lines may have. substantially a uniform width in allsections.

The outside wiring lines may be a low resistance metal material

The outside wiring lines may include at least one selected fromconsisting; of Mo, At, Ti, Cu, Al, and Mo/Al/Mo.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with

reference to the accompanying drawings; however, they may be embodied indifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art.

In the drawing figures, dimensions may be exaggerated for clarity ofillustration. It will be understood that when an element is referred toas being “between” two elements, it can be the only element between thetwo elements, or one or more intervening elements may also be present.Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

A more complete appreciation of the invention, and many of the attendantadvantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference

to the following detailed description when considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which like reference symbols indicatethe same or similar components, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a touch screen panelaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A to 2D are partial magnifying views illustrating embodiments ofslits formed over outside wiring lines;

FIG. 3A is a partial magnifying view of a region A of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3B is a partial magnifying view of a region A according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The example embodiments are described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The inventive concept may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the example embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings,the sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggeratedfor clarity.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “on,” “connected to” of “coupled to” another element or layer, itcan be directly on, connected of coupled to the other element or layeror intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to”or “directly coupled to” another element. or layer, there are nointervening elements or layers present Like or similar referencenumerals refer to like or similar elements throughout. As used herein,the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more ofthe associated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third etc.may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions,layers, patterns and/or sections, these elements, components, regions,layers, patterns and/or sections should not be limited by these terms.These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region,layer pattern or section from another region, layer, pattern or section.Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussedbelow could be termed a second element, component, region, layer orsection without departing from the teachings of example embodiments.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,”“upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description todescribe one element feature's relationship to another element(s) orfeature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that thespatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in thefigures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” otherelements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elementsor features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both anorientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented(rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relativedescriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of theinvention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operationselements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to crosssectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations ofillustratively idealized example embodiments (and intermediatestructures) of the inventive concept. As such, variations from theshapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of Manufacturingtechniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, exampleembodiments should not be construed as limited to the particular shapesof regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapesthat result, for example, from manufacturing. The regions illustrated inthe figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended toillustrate the actual shape of a region of a device and are not intendedto limit the scope of the inventive concept.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this inventive concept belongs. Itwill be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonlyused dictionaries, should be interpreted s having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

In general, in a touch screen panel, sensing electrodes are formed in adisplay area where an image is displayed so that a touch event generatedin the display area is recognized as an input signal.

In addition, outside wiring lines connected to the sensing electrodes inunits of lines and a pad unit for connecting the sensing electrodes toan external driving circuit are formed in a non-display area formedoutside the display area.

In the conventional touch screen panel, due to a difference betweenlengths of the outside wiring lines, resistance values of the outsidewiring lines vary. In addition, due to a difference between areas of theoutside wiring lines proportional to the difference between the lengthsof the outside wiring lines, capacitance values of the outside wiringlines vary.

For example, since lengths of outside, wiring lines connected to sensingelectrodes adjacent to the pad unit are small, resistance values andcapacitance values are relatively small and, since lengths of outsidewiring lines connected to sensing electrodes remote from the pad unitare large, resistance values and capacitance values are relativelylarge.

Such a difference between electrical characteristics of the outsidewiring lines may distort a signal for sensing a touch event to preventthe touch event from being correctly detected.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a touch screen panelaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a touch screen panel may include a substrate 10divided into an active area AA and a non-active area NA, sensingelectrodes 11 formed over the active area AA of the substrate 10,outside wiring lines 15 formed over the non-active area NA, and a padunit PAD for connecting the sensing electrodes to an external drivingcircuit.

The substrate 10 may be divided into the touch active area AA thatoverlaps an image display area and in which the sensing electrodes 11for sensing a touch input are formed and a non-active area NA that ispositioned on the outside of the active area AA and in which the outsidewiring lines 15 are formed.

The substrate 10 may be formed of a transparent material having highthermal and chemical resistance and may be a thin film substrate formedof at least one selected from the group consisting of, for example,polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), acryl,polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), triacetyl cellulose (TAC),polyethersulfone (PES), and polyimide (PI).

The sensing electrodes 11 may include first sensing electrodes 11 a andsecond sensing electrodes 11 b arranged to be dispersed in the activearea AA on the substrate 10 and are electrically connected to each otherin different directions.

To be specific, the first sensing electrodes 11 a may be formed to beconnected to each other in a first direction D1 and the second sensingelectrodes 11 b may be formed to be arranged between the first sensingelectrodes 11 a and to be connected to each other in a second directionD2 that intersects the first direction D1.

That is, the first sensing electrodes 11 a and the second sensingelectrodes 11 b are alternately arranged to be connected in differentdirections. For example, the first sensing electrodes Ha may be formedto be connected in a row direction (a horizontal direction) and may beconnected to the outside wiring lines 15, respectively, in units of rowlines and the second sensing electrodes Ha may be formed to be connectedin a column direction (a vertical direction) and may be connected to theoutside wiring lines 15, respectively, in units of column lines.

The sensing electrodes 11 may be formed of a transparent electrodematerial such as indium tin oxide (ITO) to transmit light and may beformed by depositing the conductive material on the substrate 10 andpatterning the deposited conductive material by a photo lithographymethod.

Touch sensing methods may include an electro-capacitive method, aresistance layer method, a surface acoustic wave method, and an infraredmethod. Among the above methods, the mainly used electro-capacitivetouch screen panel senses a change in capacitance formed by a conductivesensing electrode with another peripheral sensing electrode or a groundelectrode when the human hand or the object contacts the touch screenpanel to convert a contact position into an electrical signal.

In the present embodiment, the first and second sensing electrodes 11 aand 11 b are formed of the same material and may be arranged on onesurface of the substrate 10 in the same layer in a diamond pattern.

However, a material, a shape, and an arrangement structure of thesensing electrodes 11 may have various modifications and the presentinvention is not limited to the above.

For example, the first and second sensing electrodes 11 a and 11 b maybe arranged in different layers in a linear stripe pattern. In anotherembodiment, the sensing electrodes 11 may be formed over a metal meshpattern realized not by a transparent conductive material but by minutemetal lines. In still another embodiment, the first and second sensingelectrodes 11 a and 11 b may be formed on both surfaces of the substrate10 with the substrate 10 interposed.

On the other hand, the outside wiring lines 15 for connecting the firstsensing electrodes 11 a and the second sensing electrodes 11 b to theexternal driving circuit in units of lines in the first and seconddirections D1 and D2 are electrically connected to the first and secondsensing electrodes 11 a and 11 b in units of row and column lines,respectively, to connect the first and second sensing electrodes 11 aand 11 b to the external driving circuit such as a position detectingcircuit (not shown) through the pad unit PAD.

The outside wiring lines 15 are arranged in the non-active area NAoutside the touch screen panel to avoid the active area AA in which theimage is displayed and may be extended from the sensing electrodes 11 tothe pad unit PAD in the second direction D2 that is a long sidedirection of the touch screen panel.

As illustrated in the drawing, lengths of the outside wiring lines 15extended from the sensing electrodes 1 to the pad unit PAD vary. Forexample, lengths of outside wiring lines connected to sensing electrodes11 at a lower end adjacent to the pad unit PAD are relatively small andlengths of outside wiring lines connected to sensing electrodes 11 at anupper end remote from the pad unit PAD are relatively large.

Since the outside wiring lines 15 are formed over the non-active areaNA, the outside wiring lines 15 may be formed of a low resistance metalmaterial such as Mo, Ag, Ti, Cu, Al, and Mo/Al/Mo other than atransparent electrode material used for forming the sensing electrodes11.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are partial magnifying views illustrating embodiments ofslits formed over outside wiring lines.

Referring to FIGS. 2A to 2D, in the outside wiring lines 15, slits SLthat cross insides of the outside wiring lines 15 so that widths ofconductive paths are reduced are formed over partial sections of theoutside wiring lines 15. In addition, the outside wiring lines 15include strip patterns SP divided by the slits SL.

To be specific, the slits St from which the conductive material of whichthe outside wiring lines 15 is removed divide the partial sections ofthe outside wiring lines into the conductive paths through which currentflows and pans from which the conductive material is not removed butthrough which current does not flow, that is, the strip patterns SP.

Each of the slits SL may include a first slit SL1 extended in adirection that intersects a longitudinal direction of the outside wiringlines 15 and a second slit SL2 extended to run parallel in thelongitudinal direction of the outside wiring, lines 15.

The plurality of slits SL may be formed over one outside wiring line.Slits SL of different shapes and sizes may mixedly exist in one outsidewiring line.

One end of the strip pattern SP is electrically floated. That is, thestrip pattern SP as a part of the outside wiring lines 15 is formed of aconductive material. However, since extended one end of the strippattern SP is opened by a first slit SL1, current does not directly flowthrough the strip pattern SP.

The strip pattern SP does not form the conductive path but functions asa capacitor that collects charges. Although the width of the conductivepath is reduced by the slits SL so that the resistance values of theoutside wiring lines are increased, the capacitance values of theoutside wiring lines are not reduced.

The entire widths of the outside wiring lines 15 may not be changed butmay be uniformly maintained. In addition, the width of the slit SL maybe a minimum width allowed by a process.

For example, when a first width w1 of the conductive path formed by theslit SL is reduced, a second width w2 of the strip pattern SP isincreased and, when the First width w1 is increased, the second width w2is reduced. That is, the sum of the first width w1 and the second widthw2 is uniform and must be the same as a width of a section in which theslits SL are not formed. In another embodiment, the first slit SL1 andthe second slit SL2 may be formed to be inclined against thelongitudinal direction of the wiring line.

The slit SL and the strip pattern SP may be patterned in a process offorming the outside wiring lines 15 on the substrate 10.

The slit SL may be L or T shaped to be entirely bent. However, variousmodifications may be provided in accordance with a design condition. Theoutside wiring lines 15 having the shaped slits SL may have first strippatterns SP1 and second strip patterns SP2 that face each other.

FIG. 3A is a partial magnifying view of a region A of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3Bis a partial magnifying view of a region A according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

As described above, since the lengths of the outside wiring lines 15vary, the conventional touch screen panel has different resistance andcapacitance values due to a difference between the lengths of theoutside wiring lines 15.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the slits SL that crossthe insides of the outside wiring lines 15 so that the widths of theconductive paths are reduced are formed over the partial sections of theoutside wiring lines 15 to control electrical characteristic values.

In particular, the slits SL are formed over the outside wiring lineshaving relatively small lengths among the outside wiring lines 15 andthe strip patterns SP are formed by the slits SL in other areas than theconductive paths so that only the resistance values of the outsidewiring lines 15 may be increased with the capacitance values of theoutside wiring lines 15 maintained. A length and width of the strippattern SP may be controlled so that the resistance values or RC delayvalues of the outside wiring lines 15 are equal to each other.

Retelling to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the outside wiring lines 15 have differentlengths. As the lengths of the outside wiring lines are smaller, thenumber of slits SL may be increased or lengths of the second slits SL2may be increased.

For example, when the lengths of the wiring lines are in the order of alength of a first outside wiring line 15_1, a length of a second outsidewiring line 15_2, and a third outside wiring line 15_3, the slits SL areformed so that resistance values of RC delay values of the secondoutside wiring line 15_2 and the third outside wiring line 15_3 areequal to a resistance value or an RC delay value of the first outsidewiring line 15_1.

In order to equalize the resistance values or the RC delay values of theoutside wiring lines 15, since an increase in the resistance value ofthe third outside wiring line 15_3 having a smaller length than that ofthe second outside wiring line 15_2 must be larger, the number of slitsSL in the third outside wiring line 15_3 may be larger or the length ofthe second slit SL2 extended to run parallel with the reduced conductivepath may be increased.

Hereinafter, a theoretical model in which the resistance values or theRC delay values of the outside wiring lines 15 are made equal to eachother by the slits SL will be described.

The resistance values of the outside wiring lines 15 are proportional tothe lengths of the outside wiring lines and are inversely proportionalto the widths of the wiring lines. Since the conductive path is reducedto have the first width w1 in the section where the slits SL are formed,the entire resistance value of the wiring line in which the slits SL areformed may be increased. The reduced conductive path may be extended,that is, a length d of the second slit SL2 may be controlled so that adegree of increase in the resistance value may be controlled.

On the other hand, the capacitance values of the outside wiring lines 15are proportional to the area of the outside wiring lines 15. That is,the capacitance values are increased in proportion to the lengths andwidths of the outside wiring lines 15 and the strip patterns SP in thesection where the slits SL are formed as pans of the outside wiringlines 15 have predetermined capacitance values proportional to thesecond width w2 and the length (of the strip pattern SP.

In the section where the slits SL, are formed, the conductive path isreduced to have the first width w1. However, since the strip patterns SPdivided from the conductive path exist in the remaining areas, an amountof reduction M the entire area of the wiring lines is only the areasremoved by the slits SL.

Since the slits SL are formed to have the minimum width allowed in aprocess, a change in the capacitance values caused by the slits SL areignorable.

As a result, in a state where the capacitance values of the outsidewiring lines 15 in which the slits SL are formed are not remarkablychanged in comparison with a case in which the slits SL are not formed,only the resistance values may be changed by the size of the strippatterns SP.

In general, deviation in the RC delay values of the outside wiring lines15 calculated by multiplying the resistance values of the wiring linesand the capacitance values is large in the outside wiring lines 15having different lengths.

For example, since the resistance values and the capacitance values areproportional to the lengths of the wiring lines, the resistance valuesand the capacitance values of the outside wiring lines having largelengths are different from those of the outside wiring lines havingsmall lengths. Since the RC delay values are calculated by multiplyingthe resistance values and the capacitance values, deviation in the RCdelay values of the outside wiring lines 15 is further increased. Adifference between the RC delay value of the outside wiring line havingthe largest length and that of the outside wiring line having thesmallest length is up to six times.

According to the present invention, when the slits SL are formed overthe outside wiring lines 15, a change in the capacitance values isignorable. However, the resistance values are increased by the sectionin which the slits SL are formed.

At this time, in order to obtained a desired target resistance value,the length of the slits SL or the number of slits SL may be controlledso that the resistance values may be controlled. Here, the targetresistance value may be the resistance value of the outside wiring linehaving the largest length and may be the resistance values of theoutside wiring lines 15 for equalizing the RC delay values consideringthe different capacitance values of the outside wiring lines 15.

When the resistance values of the outside wiring lines 15 are equalizedby the slits SL, deviation in the RC delay values of the outside wiringlines 15 is generated by a difference in the capacitance values.However, when the target resistance value is corrected by the differencein the capacitance values so that the slits SL are formed over theoutside wiring lines 15, all of the outside wiring lines 15 may have thesame RC delay value.

Set up of the target resistance value and the length of the slits SL inaccordance with the target resistance value or the number of slits SLmay vary with the design condition.

As described above, according to the embodiments of present invention,the slits that cross the insides of the outside wiring lines so that thewidths of the conductive paths are reduced may be formed over thepartial sections of the outside wiring lines to control the electricalcharacteristic values of the outside wiring lines.

And the slits are formed over the outside wiring lines haying smallerlengths among the outside wiring lines and the strip patterns are formedby the slits in the other areas than the conductive path so that onlythe resistance values may be increased with the capacitance values ofthe outside wiring lines maintained. The length and width of the strippatterns are controlled so that the resistance values or the RC delayvalues of the outside wiring lines are equal to each other.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention has been made toprovide a touch screen panel capable of equalizing electricalcharacteristics of outside wiring lines.

The electrical characteristic, values of the outside wiring lines may beequalized so that a touch function may be improved.

Example embodiments have been disclosed herein, and although specificterms are employed, they are used and are to he interpreted in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purpose of limitation. In someinstances, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art asof the filing of the present application, features, characteristics,and/or elements described in connection with a particular embodiment maybe used singly or in combination with features, characteristics, and/orelements described in connection with other embodiments unless otherwisespecifically indicated. Accordingly, it will be understood by those ofskill in the art that various changes in form and details may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention asset forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A touch screen panel, comprising: a substrate comprising an active area and a non-active area positioned outside the active area; first and second sensing electrodes formed over the active area, wherein the first sensing electrodes connected along a first direction, and wherein the second sensing electrodes connected along a second direction that intersects the first direction; and outside wiring lines formed in the non-active area to connect the first and second sensing electrodes to an external driving circuit in units of lines and having at least one of slit that cross inside of the outside wiring lines so that widths of conductive paths are reduced in partial sections.
 2. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slit comprises a first slit extended in a direction that intersects a longitudinal direction of the outside wiring lines and a second slit extended to parallel in the longitudinal direction of the outside wiring lines.
 3. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 2, wherein the slit is L or T shaped.
 4. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slit includes a plurality of slits formed over one outside wiring line.
 5. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim
 1. wherein the outside wiring lines have different lengths, and wherein the number of slits is increased as the lengths of the wiring lines are smaller.
 6. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outside wiring lines have different lengths, and wherein a length of the second slit is increased as the lengths of the wiring lines are smaller.
 7. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outside wiring lines comprise strip patterns divided by the slit.
 8. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 7, wherein the strip patterns are extended to parallel in a longitudinal direction of the outside wiring lines.
 9. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outside wiring lines have substantially a uniform width in all sections.
 10. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outside wiring lines are a low resistance metal material.
 11. The touch screen panel as claimed in claim 10, wherein the outside wiring lines include at least one selected from consisting of Mo, Ag, Ti, Cu, Al, and Mo/Al/Mo. 